Windshield cleaner



Feb. 16 1926.

c. F. LAG-.ANKE

- wlINDsHIELD CLEANER Filed Jan. 16. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l O O O O QU i.

Patented Feb. is, 1926.

A .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. LAGANKE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR' 'IO THE OUTLOOK` COMPANY,

OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

WINDSHIELD- CLEANER.

Application filed January A16, 1922.l Seriai N o. 529,610.3

a citizen of the United States, residing at Y Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and l State of Ohio, have invented acertain new and useful 'Improvementv in Windshield clear, and exact description, reference being" Cleaners, of which the following is a full,

vhad to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of devices known as windshield cleaners that are used for removing rain, snow, sleet, moisture and the vlike from the windshields of automobiles, niotormens. windows of street cars, lookout windows or.

locomotive cabs, etc., my present improvements being more especially adapted for use in connection with the windshields of automobiles.

It is found in connection with automobile windshieldsthat that portionl of thepane through which the driverobservesthe road fers materially in different types o cars, as,

ahead, and consequently that part which it is desired 'to `keep .free fromrain, snow, etc., varles quite considerably in its position with res ectto the remainder of the windshield; an the vertical dimension of the ane diffor instance, in the average sport model. the top, or sometimes only, pane 1s comparatively short in a vertical direction, while inl other types of oars, especially the larger closed cars, the pane is of considerable vertical extent. v

The. essential object of my'invention is to provide a windshield cleaner wherein the position of the Awiper with `respect ito' its carrying arm is adjustable, making it possible to shift .the area of voperation of the wiper on the windshield pane, so that a dealer is not required to stock 'such a great variety of sizes of cleaners in order to properly7 meet these various. conditions.

More specifically, the objects of my in- .vention' are to fprovide a windshield cleaner having a wiper carrying arm that is adjustable in length; and to provide a device of the aforesaid character which is strong and ment and use.

The foregoing objects, and others which Y will appear as this description proceeds, are

v attained in the embodiments of the. inveni i i externally threaded ing and forming a part hereof .and wherein- Fig. 1 is-a Vertical section through a windshield show'ing my improved cleaner in'side elevation applied thereto; Fig. Q, is a fragmentary front elevation of the windshield equipped with the cleaner; FigQB is a longitudinal section through the 'lower end of the wiper carrying arm, and includes fragments of the wiper andl windshield'pane'; Fig. 4 isa section on the line '4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5v is a view similar to lbut less complete than Fig. 1, showing almodiied form of the arm; Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the arm shown vin Fig. 5;'and Fig. 7 is alsec'tional detail on the correspondingly numbered line of Fig. 5. The paneof the windshield is designated 1 and thel frame thereof is designated 2. An bearing vsleeve 3 is clamped. within an aperture of the frame by nuts. 4fthat are appliedpto its opposite ends. A shaft 5 is journaled within the bearing sleeve and at its inner end has connection with an operating handle 6 that is equipped witha knob 7. In the present instance, the shaft and arm are formed 'of right angularly related ortions ofa rod, the free end of the rod beingvdirected inwardly to provide a support for the knob 7.

At its outer end, the shaft 5 has secured to it. as by means of a nut 10, a wiper arm 11 which is preferably formed of spring material and its outer end portion is provided y with a series of apertures 12 through which It will be seen, by referenceto Figs. 3 and let, that the sheath 17 is provided with a spherical portionl 20iwhich is received by sockets 21 in the oppositebranches of the yoke 1.6. By' this arrangement the wiper is afforded universal'movement with respect to the wiper carrying arm and is free to adjust itself tothe varying plane of the windshield so that at all times it beais with equal pressure thereon from end to end and is permitted to ip from side to side as it is swung to andv fr0 across the shaft-5 is oscillat-ed by means of the operating handle 6. apertures 12,

the windshield pane *whenv By virtue of the series of the shank -15 of the yoke4 1 6 may be adjusted along the arm-11 so as to ralse or lower the wiper with respect to the upper edge of the pane, for reasons already related. To provide for panes of different vertical dimensions, I propose to supply wipers of different lengths suclnas indicated by the dotted lines occurring near the top and bottom ends of the wiper. shown in Fig. l, one length of wiper being indicated by the dotted lines, a, a, and another length by the dotted lines b, b. To substitute one length for another, it is only necessary to spread the branches of theyoke 15 suiciently to disengage ,the sockets 21 from the spherical portion 2() of the wiper, reforming the yokevto its previous condltion after the substitution has been made. IVhile I have shown the wiper connected at its longitudif nal center tothe arm, this' is' not necessary,

though it is regarded as desirable.

A modified form of the adjustable connection between the wiper arm and the wipyoke is illustrated in Figs. 5, 6,

4 er carryiln and 7. ere, `the lower end of the wiper carrying arm 25 is formed with parallel sides, and embracing this portion of the arm are forwardly and inwardly turned flanges 26 that extend along the opposite side edges of the shank 27 of the yoke 28. A screw 30 is threaded into an aperture of the arm 25 and its head voverlies the flanges 26 so that by setting up tightly 4on the screw, said flanges may be clamped securely to the arm and the yoke 28 held thereby in any adjusted position with respect to the arm. In this as well as in theV previous form of .the invention I may provide for further adjustment by making a series of spherical portions 32 on the sheath 33 which supports the wiper strip 34 and with any one yof which the socketed portions 35 of the yoke may be en aged. ry

ursuing the usual practice, the bearing sleeve 3 may be supported in an aperture of the pane instead of in an opening in the frame, as herein illustrated, or theshaft 5 may be journaled Vin a suitable bracket applied to the windshield frame.

Havin thus described my invention, what I o aim is l. In=windshield cleaning apparatus, the combination of a resilient wiper carrying arm composed of two sections formed of sheet metal stampings and having flat overlapping portions, a headed screw passing through the voverlapping portion of one of the sections and threaded into one of a plu` rality of spaced threaded openings in the other of the sections vto clamp said overlapping portions together, a wiper supported by said arm in operative relation tothe windshield pane, and means for actuatingthe arm to impart movement to the wiper. 2. In windshield cleaning apparatus, the combination of a reslllent wiper carrying arm composed of two sections formed of sheet metal stampings and having flat overlapping portions, a headed screw threaded' into one of the sections and adapted to clamp portions of theV other section that are spaced apartlongitudinallyof said section between its head and the first mentioned section. a wiper supported by said arm in operativerelation to the windshield pane,- and means for .actuating the arm to impart movement to the wiper.

In testimonywhereof I hereunto aiix my signature.

CHARLES F. LAGANKE. 

